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Monday, January 30, 2012

Monday Munchies: Dickson Wine Bar

Plaudits: None
Neighborhood: U Street

The Setup

Needing a quick bite around the neighborhood, Official Friend of DCWD Talia and I headed over to Dickson Wine Bar.

The Vibe

If you didn't know it was there, you'd think Dickson was just an office building. But behind the brick facade is a wonderfully put-together space. The set-up is two floors, with the upper one a balcony that looks over the lower. Seating is all bars, from the actual two-seat bar, to the rails along the windows, to a few six seat communal tables in the middle. All told, there are only about 20 seats tops, many of which don't face each other, so you'll have to get there early to snag any sort of dateworthy seat.

The decor is almost entirely wine bottles, which gleam a little bit in the dim light. Otherwise, the space is dark, a little loud, but definitely cozy.

The Food

For all of it, the menu is actually and unsurprisingly fairly limited. Looking only for a small bite, I decided to try the restaurant's take on banh mi, while Talia had her some tuna tartare.

For all the banh mi we've tried in our quest, this was one of the truer recreations I've had of the traditional Vietnamese sandwich. A little heavy on the pickling, but otherwise a nice crusty baguette with solid fillings. Maybe not worth the superlatives that seem to heaped onto it, but still captured the essence of it all.

On Talia's tuna tartare, it came served with a nice piece of sourdough-esque toast and some microgreens. The tuna was nice, with just enough acid to provide contrast (and you know, make it not super raw). Unlike the best tartares, it didn't provide any strong flavor contrast or interesting accompaniment, but unlike the worst tartares, it wasn't mushy or mish-mosh.

The Verdict

Some good stuff going, and we can't wait to see what else they can come up with.

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